The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition Canadians are not ready to hang up on the pay phone. The Globe's Richard Blackwell writes the CRTC said 32 per cent of Canadians used a pay phone at least once in the past year. Still, pay phone call volumes are falling by 24 per cent a year, the CRTC said, and phone companies are yanking pay phones out at an annual rate that will rise to 15 per cent a year by 2016. Next year, there will be about 55,000 pay phones across Canada, about one-third of the number that were in place in 2005. For phone companies, however, many pay phones are money losers. Bell Canada and Bell Aliant told the CRTC that, in 2013, they had 636 pay phones that had no usage at all over a 13-month period, and 10,500 phones with revenue of less than 50 cents a day. Phone companies are not allowed to charge more than 50 cents cash for a local pay phone call, or $1 if it is a non-cash payment. Telus spokesman Chris Gerritsen said his firm "has always taken a moderate approach to removing pay phones, collaborating with communities to ensure the best possible access." Most pay phone removals are initiated by the owners of the property where they are located, not by the phone companies themselves.